USA > New Jersey > Union County > Elizabeth > History of Elizabeth, New Jersey : including the early history of Union County > Part 29
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Mr. Hatfield was one of the magistrates of the town, be- came High Sheriff and Alderman, and, by his daughter Phebe, wife of Robert Ogden, Esq., was the grandfather of Gen. Matthias and Gov. Aaron Ogden, and an ancestor of Gov. Daniel Haines.
* N. Y. Gazette, Ang. 25, 1705. t Ib., Sep. 29, 1735. * Ib., Jan. 13, 1736.
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THE HISTORY OF
CHAPTER XV.
A. D. 1708-1747.
ECCLESIASTICAL - Rev. Jona. Dickinson -Parentage, Education, Marriage, and Ordination - His Parish and Salary - Joins the Presbytery, Episcopal Con- troversy, Westfield Chh. - "Adopting Act" of 1729 - Practices Medicine - His " Reasonableness of Christianity " - Presbytery of E. Jersey -- Elders - Case of Hemphill - Another Episcopal Controversy - New Providence Chh. - Presbytery of N. York - Whitefield at E. T. - Dickinson's "Witness of the Spirit."- Revival of 1740- Dickinson's "Five Points " - His " Display of Special Grace " - Controversy on Regeneration - His "Familiar Letters." - Old Side and New Side Controversy - Division of the Synod - Efforts to Christianize the Indians- David Brainerd - Death of Mrs. Dickinson - His Second Marriage - Another Episcopal Controversy - College of New Jersey -Dickinson, its first President - His Death and Character - His Family.
THE vacancy occasioned by the retirement of the Rev. Samuel Melyen from the pulpit of the Independent Church, was filled, shortly after, by the Ordination and Installation of the
REV. JONATHAN DICKINSON.
He was the son of Hezekiah, and grandson of Nathaniel Dickinson. His grandfather was among the early settlers of Wethersfield, Ct., and emigrated thence, in 1659, to Hadley, Mass. His son, Hezekiah, was born at Wethers- field, Feb., 1645, became a merchant, and resided successive- ly in Stratford, Ct., and Hatfield, Hadley and Springfield, Mass. He married, at Stratford, December 4, 1679, Abigail, born Nov. 11, 1663, daughter of Samuel, and grand- daughter of Rev. Adam, Blackman, [Blakeman], the first minister of Stratford, Ct., and a graduate of the University of Oxford .*
* Savage's Gen. Dict., I. 195. II. 47. Hinman's Pur. Settlers of Ct., 1. 244. Goodwin's Genealog. Notes, pp. 6, 7, 123.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
Jonathan was the second child of these worthy parents. He was born, April 22, 1688, at Hatfield, Mass., removed to Hadley, in 1690, and to Springfield, in 1695, where he spent the most of his youth. Possibly, a portion of his younger days may have been passed at his grandfather Blackman's, in Stratford. The worthy minister of Stratford, Rev. Israel Chauncy, was one of the principal founders of Yale College, which went into operation in 1702. Through his influence it was, probably, that young Dickinson, entered the new college the same year, and was received into the family of the Rev. Abraham Pierson, of Killingworth, Ct., the first President, at whose house the students received instruction until his death in 1707. His tutor for three years, (1703- 1706), was John Hart, subsequently the minister of East Guilford, Ct. He graduated in 1706. His classmates were Jared Eliot (Mr. Pierson's successor in the ministry at Kill- ingworth, and highly celebrated as a physician as well as a divine), and Timothy Woodbridge, minister of Simsbury, Ct., from 1712 to 1742 .*
Shortly after he left College, his father died, (June 14, 1707), and his mother married, January 21, 1708, Thomas Ingersoll, of Springfield, Mass. With whom young Dickin- son studied theology, and by whom he was licensed to preach, no record informs us. While in College, at Killingworth, he may frequently have extended his visits to Guilford, the next town on the West, and there, among the Hubbards and Fow- lers, have met and courted their cousin, Joanna Melyen, the daughter of Jacob, and the sister of the Rev. Samuel Melyen. He may thus have had his attention directed to the vacant pulpit in this town ; or the people here may have been thus directed to him. Mr. Pierson, too, who had, for more than 20 years, been the pastor of the Church of Newark, and familiar with this whole region, may, at or soon after his graduation, (for Mr. Pierson died, March 17, 1709), have advised him to go to East Jersey.t
He was in his twenty-first year, a mere stripling, when he
* Trumbull's Conn., I. 501. Baldwin's Yale Coll., pp. 15-22. Yale Col. Triennial.
t Chapin's Glastenbury, p. 172.
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came hither in 1708. His marriage to Miss Melyen must have taken place as early as March, 1709, the birth of his first child being thus recorded in his Family Bible : "Our son Melyen was born December 7, 1709." His wife was more than four years his senior, having been born in 1683. His ministry proved so acceptable, that measures were soon taken for his ordination as Pastor. The ministers of Fair- field County, who had just become consociated, according to the Saybrook Platform of Sept. 9, 1708, were invited to per- form the services on that occasion. These ministers were John Davenport of Stamford, Stephen Buckingham, of Nor- walk, Joseph Webb of Fairfield, and Israel Chauncy of Stratford. These, with "Messengers" from the several Churches, constituted the ordaining Council, together with, probably, the Rev. Nathaniel Wade with a Messenger from the Church of Woodbridge ; and the Rev. Nathaniel Bowers with a Messenger from the Church of Newark. The Rev. Joseph Morgan had just left Greenwich, Ct., and been in- stalled at Freehold, N. J. He, too, was invited, and it had been arranged that he should preach the sermon. The ordination took place, on Friday, Sept. 29, 1709. Mr. Morgan preached, from Mark xvi : 16,-" Go ye into all the world," &c. The discourse was printed, by W. & A. Brad- ford, at New York, in 1712, and a copy of it is preserved in the Library of the Connecticut Historical Society at Hartford. The theme of the sermon was, "The Great Concernment of Gospel Ordinances, manifested from the great effects of im- proving or neglecting them." It was probably abbreviated in the delivery, as "one of the ministers frequently desired him to be brief, on account of the shortness of the day and the greatness of the work in hand." He urges the duty of thorough preparation for the pulpit, by the adage "A tow lace ill beseems a silk garment." *
It was an extensive field of labor, with the cultivation of which young Dickinson was thus entrusted. The town had been spreading itself in every direction. It included, in
* Webster's His. of the Presb. Chh. in Am., pp. 358-61; Sprague's Annals, III. 14-18. Trumbull's Conn., I. 501, 2, 9, 15, 23.
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addition to the main settlement along the Creek, the neigh- borhoods of Woodruff's Farms, Lyon's Farms, Connecticut Farms, Williams' Farms, a considerable population on both sides of the upper Rahway river, and a large settlement on the North of the River, at the crossing of the Woodbridge road. A few scattered habitations were found in the present town of Westfield, and at the Scotch Plains. Neither church nor minister was yet to be found in the regions beyond towards the setting sun. It was the extreme border of civilization. An Episcopal Church, as already related, had been organized within these bounds, but its numbers were yet inconsiderable, and its pulpit was not yet supplied. Mr. Vaughan had been appointed to the place, but had not arrived. It was a weighty charge to be laid on such youth- ful shoulders. And yet not too weighty, as the sequel proved. Quietly and diligently he applied himself to his work, and his profiting presently appeared to all. It was not long before he took rank among the first of his profession .*
The only information thus far obtained in regard to his compensation is contained in a letter from the Rev. Thomas Halliday, Episcopal Missionary, dated, "Elizabeth Town, 8th Nov., 1716 :-
In this part of East-Jersey there are three large Townships, Newark, Elizabeth Town and Woodbridge which consist of upwards of a thousand families the chief settlers of which were New England Independents, who are now old and confirmed in their erroneous way. In each of those towns there is a large Independent Congregation who support their preachers with the allowance of £80 per annum besides House, Glebe, and perquisites of Marriages.t
Very brief notices only remain of the first few years of his ministry. He took part, as a corresponding member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, Oct. 20, 1715, in the ordination of Robert Orr, at Maidenhead, now Lawrenceville, N. J. It was, doubtless, through his influence, principally, that John Pierson, one year younger than himself, with whom he had been intimately associated, at the house of his father, Rev. Abraham Pierson, at Killingworth, was introduced to the
* Clark's St. John's Chh., p. 84.
t Clark's St. John's Chh., p. 44.
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people of Woodbridge, and settled there. Dickinson took part with Prudden, Andrews, Morgan and Orr, April 29, 1717, in this ordination, also .*
Hitherto the church of Elizabeth Town had remained In- dependent, retaining the forms and usages of the New Eng- land churches. At the time of their organization, no Pres- bytery had been formed in America. It was not until forty years had passed, that the Presbytery of Philadelphia was constituted. One after another, the churches out of New England were becoming connected with it. The church of Freehold had joined the Presbytery as early as 1706 ; Wood- bridge, and their minister, Nathaniel Wade, in 1710; New- town, L. I., and their minister, Samuel Pumroy, (a fellow- student with Dickinson, at Yale, where, in 1705, he gradu- ated), in 1715; and Southampton (with whom the people of this town were so intimately connected), with their minister, Joseph Whiting, and his colleague, Samuel Gelston, had been received in 1716. Dickinson, it may be presumed from the well-known preferences of President Pierson, was not averse to the change from Independency to Presbyterianism. But he was very young, and needed first to establish himself with his people before proposing any innovations. They were thorough Puritans, and, as has been abundantly exhibited in this narrative, men of spirit. They were slow to part with what they conceived to be their rights. Dickinson was not a member of the Presbytery previous to September, 1716, as appears from the roll. It is quite probable that he united with the Presbytery of Philadelphia, at their meeting in Woodbridge, April 29, 1717, for the ordination of Mr. John Pierson, on which occasion, he took part in the services.t
At the meeting of the newly-constituted Synod of Phila- delphia, Sept. 17, 1717, his name is enrolled as the youngest member. His church, also, either then or very soon after, put themselves under the care of the Presbytery. The fol- lowing year, Sept. 19, 1718, it is noted in the Records, that " Mr. Dickinson delivered one pound twelve shillings from
* Records of the Presb. Chh., U. S. A., pp. 41, 3.
+ Records, P. Chh., pp. 7, 16, 39, 42, 6.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
his congregation of Elizabeth-town, for the fund, " for pious uses." This was, undoubtedly, the first contribution for Presbyterian purposes ever made by this congregation. From 1719 until after 1724, probably until 1733, he was the Stated Clerk of the Presbytery, as appears from the Record of the Synod :- " The book of the Presbytery of Philadelphia was not produced by reason of Mr. Dickinson's absence." He was "necessarily detained by his brother's sickness." His brother, Moses, had been settled at Hopewell [Penning- ton], in 1717. He took part, Oct. 22, 1719, in the ordination of Joseph Webb, at Newark, by the Presbytery of Philadel- phia. So rapidly had he risen in the estimation of the Synod, that, when a Standing Commission was appointed in 1720, he was made one of the number .*
For the first time, the church was represented in the Synod of 1721, by one of their elders, Robert Ogden, son of Deacon Jonathan, and grandson of " Old John Ogden." Mr. Dick- inson was chosen Moderator. Though he had, in good faith, adopted the Presbyterian system, he could not wholly forego that in which he had been trained. Against an overture, adopted by the Synod, which savored of the stricter and more rigid system of the old world, he, with five other breth- ren of like liberal views,-Webb, of Newark, Pierson, of Woodbridge, Morgan, of Frechold, and two Welsh breth- ren,-protested. At the opening of the Synod, the following year, he preached the sermon, from 2 Tim. iii. 17; in which he took occasion to define his views of ecclesiastical jurisdic- tion, in justification of his Protest of the previous year : "an excellent, Sermon," says Foxcroft of Boston, " where the true Boundaries of Church-Power are particularly considered and set in their proper Light." +
At this meeting he succeeded, after the subject had been fully discussed, in so harmonizing the views of the Synod by the presentation of a paper on the subject, as to carry their unanimous assent, and lead them to a hearty giving of thanks
* Ib., pp. 46, 51. 4, 62, 76, 80. Stearns' Newark, p. 122.
t Records, P. Chh., pp. 62, 6, 7, 72. Webster's l'. Chb., p. 359. Prof. to " P.casonableness of Chy." p. ix.
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in prayer and praise, for the composure of their difference." In this paper, the power of the keys is accorded to the church officers, and to them only ; care is taken to distinguish be- tween legislative acts binding on the conscience, and orderly regulations conformed to God's Word; and the right of appeal from the lower to the higher court is admitted. His sermon on this occasion was shortly after published, being his first appearance in print. The church was represented in the Synod, this year, by Elder Joseph Woodruff, whose affidavit relative to the Newark Boundary Line is recorded in the Answer to the Elizabeth Town Bill in Chancery .*
Mr. Dickinson was also fully alive to the zealous efforts of the Rev. Mr. Vaughan, his townsman, and others of the Episcopal ministry, to extend the influence of the Church of England in the Colonies. The defection of Timothy Cutler, President, and Daniel Browne, Tutor of Yale College, with Samuel Johnson, Minister of West Haven, Ct., to Episcopacy, in the autumn of 1722, followed by Messrs. Hart, Eliot, Whittlesey, and Wetmore, shortly after, produced a profound impression throughout the country, turning the attention of the ministry and churches, both Congregational and Pres- byterian, to what they regarded as "the assumptions " of Prelacy. Mr. Johnson, having received Episcopal ordina- tion, was appointed a missionary to Stratford and vicinity, in Connecticut,-the only Episcopal minister in the Colony,- commencing his work in November, 1723. One of his zealous parishioners, shortly after, published a pamphlet, entitled, " A modest Proof of the Order and Government settled by Christ and his Apostles in the Church." A copy of this pamphlet came into the hands of Mr. Dickinson, many of them, probably, being circulated in the town. He imme- diately prepared and published, in 1724, at Boston, a reply in " Defence of Presbyterian Ordination." +
His antagonist, wholly unable to cope with him in argu- ment, called in the aid of his minister, Mr. Johnson, by whom he was furnished with " a sketch of the common argu-
* Records, ut antea.
t Sprague's Annals, V. 51. Chandler's Life of Johnson, pp. 26-32, 9, 69.
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ments in favour of the doctrine of the Church. " of England ; which the other sent in his own name to Mr. Dickinson. This drew forth another publication from the latter, in which he affirmed that "High Churchism is properly no more a part of the Church of England, than a wen is of the human body." To this, also, Mr. Johnson furnished his parishioner with a rejoinder. "Sometime after Mr. Dickinson enlarged and printed his own papers in this dispute ; upon which Mr. Johnson thought proper to publish what he had written on the other side." *
The Records of the Synod, year by year, give abundant evidence of his interest and activity in ecclesiastical matters, as, also, of the confidence reposed in him by his brethren,- his name appearing on almost every commission, to which matters of moment were referred. He was appointed, Sept. 20, 1723, to visit certain Memorialists in Virginia, and preach some Sabbaths to them, within the year following. It is not known, whether he went or not. His rare and commanding ability as a preacher subjected him to many invitations to go abroad and be helpful to other ministers and churches.t.
That portion of the congregation, who had removed back into the country, beyond the Rahway river, had, in 1727, become so numerous, and found it so inconvenient to attend public worship in the old meeting-house, that they began to hold public services among themselves, on the Lord's Day, and had secured the ministrations of the Rev. Nathaniel Hubbell, a portion of the time. The Westfield Church was organized, probably, at a somewhat later date. ±
At the meeting of the Synod in 1727, it was proposed to require of every minister and candidate a hearty assent to the Westminster Confession and Catechisms. No action was then taken. In 1728, it was taken up, but deferred until the following year. Mr. Dickinson, " the ablest and most influ- ential member of the Synod," as Dr. Hodge calls him, at once took ground against the proposition. His constitutional love of
* Chandler's Life of Johnson, p. 70.
t Records, P. Chh., p. 74.
* Ib .: pp. 83, 6. Webster's P. Chh., p. 386. Huntting's Ilis. Sermon, pp. 10, 13.
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liberty, and his fear of any infringement of the rights of the ministry, led him to oppose the measure, and present his reasons for rejecting it. The overture had been printed. A response to it from the pen of Dickinson was also printed, by Zenger, at New York, a copy of which is found in the old South Church Library, Boston. It is dated, April 10, 1729, and shows, that, while he himself cordially accepted these Symbols of Faith, he was opposed to all imposition of creeds of human composure. Having been placed on the Commit- tee to whom the proposition was referred, he succeeded in modifying it to such an extent, as to unite the whole Synod, with thanksgiving to God, in the support and adoption of the measure, thenceforward known as, " the Adopting Act." *
It will be remembered that only a few weeks later, Mr. Dickinson subscribed, at home, a paper designed to unite more closely and effectively his townsmen in their opposition to the pretensions of the East Jersey Proprietors. Having cast in his lot with his people in defence of their homesteads, he proved himself, in that controversy, as in the Synod, an invaluable counselor and organizer in defence of popular rights. In all the straits and trials, growing out of the liti- gations with which they were disturbed, he ever stood with them, and never shrunk from any responsibilities thus de- volved upon him. He endeared himself to his congregation, not only by his admirable pastoral qualifications, fully ex- emplified in all his intercourse with them, but by attention to their bodily maladies. He gave himself to the study of medicine as well as of divinity, and acquired a high repu- tation as a physician. In Zenger's Weekly Journal, Feb. 16, 1735, will be found a communication from his pen, descrip- tive of "the Throat Distemper " (at that time prevailing fearfully and fatally in these parts), and proposing what he regarded as an effectual remedy.t
The period in which he served the Church was noted for the prevalence of scepticism. The writings of Hobbes, Blount, Toland, Shaftesbury, Collins, Woolston, Wollaston,
* Records, pp. 89, 91, 2, 3. Hodge's P. Chh., I. 162-173. Webster's P. Chh., pp. 103-8.
t E. Town Book, B. 4, App. to Green's Discourses, p. 297. Christian Advocate, X. 52.
.
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ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.
Tindal, and Chubb, the modern apostles of Deism, had ob- tained a wide circulation, and were greedily devoured. It was fashionable to decry both Inspiration and Revelation. Men gloried in "the Religion of Nature," and decried the Holy Scriptures, the Church, and the Christian. Reason was deified and Christ dethroned. The tendencies of the pulpit were towards a low Arminianism-latitudinarianism in doc- trine and practice .*
Mr. Dickinson set himself to breast and beat back the waves of error. He prepared and preached to his people, a short series of discourses, which, soon after, were printed in a convenient manual edition, with the following title :
The Reasonableness of Christianity, in Four Sermons, Wherein The Being and Attributes of God, the Apostacy of Man, and the Credibility of the Christian Religion, are demonstrated by rational Considerations. And the Divine Mission of our blessed Saviour prov'd by Scripture-Ar- guments, both from the Old Testament and the New; and vindicated against the most important Objections, whether of ancient or modern In- fidels. By Jonathan Dickinson, M. A. Minister of the Gospel at Elizabeth- Town, N. Jersey. Cum dilectione fides Christiani : Sine dilectione fides daemonum : Qui autem non credunt, pejores sunt quam daemones .- Ang. de charit. With a Preface by Mr. Foxcroft. Boston . N. E. Printed by S. Kneeland and T. Green, for Samuel Gerrish at the lower end of Cornhill. MDCCXXXII.
The anthor is thus introduced by the Rev. Thomas Fox- croft, of Boston :-
The reverend and learned Author of the ensuing Discourses needs not any Epistles of Commendation to such as are acquainted with his Per- son and Character: Whose Praise is in the Gospel thorowout all the Churches in those remote parts where Divine Providence has cast his Lot. Neither is he unknown to the Publick : which has been favour'd with several lesser Writings of his, formerly publish'd on special occasions ; that must have left on the Minds of those who have read them, a grate- ful Relish, and such an Idea of Mr. Dickinson's peculiar Genius, Capacity and Judgment, as cannot but prepare them to come with raised Expecta- tions and a particular Gust, to the perusal of the following Tracts; Which it would therefore be as superfluous to recommend to such, as it would be thought vain in mne to attempt a profuse Encomium on them for the
* Dickinson favored the " Half-Way Covenant," but not the lax views of Doctrine grow. Ing out of it. Chn. Advocate, X. 147.
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THE HISTORY OF
sake of others ; nor indeed would the known Modesty of the Author in- dulge me in taking this Liberty.
They are truly admirable discourses, learned, discriminat- ing, and logical ; full of pith and power; pointed and im- pressive. Happy the people favored with the ministry of such a teacher! Happy the children whose early years were blessed with such instructions !
In 1733, was published, at Boston, New England, "The Scripture-Bishop Vindicated. A Defence of the Dialogue Between Praelaticus and Eleutherius, upon The Scripture Bishop, or The Divine Right of Presbyterian Ordination and Government, Against The Exceptions of a Pamphlet Intitled The Scripture Bishop Examined. By Eleutherius, V. D. M. In a Letter to a Friend." This book, now exceedingly rare (the only copy known to the author of this history being in his own library), was ascribed, a few years later, by Rev. George Beckwith, of Lyme, Ct., to Mr. Dickinson. It was undoubtedly the product of his pen.
In the following year he was called to preach the funeral sermon of Ruth, the wife of his friend, Rev. John Pierson, of Woodbridge, and the daughter of the Rev. Timothy Wood- bridge of Hartford, Ct. This sermon was printed at New York, the same year, by William Bradford .*
In 1733, the Presbytery of East Jersey was formed out of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and Dickinson became, at once, the acknowledged head of the new Presbytery. In 1734, his Elder, Matthias Hatfield, accompanied him to Synod. As the early Records of the Church are not extant, it is only by reference to the Records of the Synod, that the names of the Elders previous to 1765 can be ascertained. Robert Ogden had a seat in the Synod of 1721; and Joseph Wood- ruff, in 1722. In 1730 William Miller represented the Church in the Synod; Joseph Woodruff, again, in 1740, and 1745 ; David Whitehead, in 1742; John Ogden in 1743; Ephraim Price, in 1748; Joseph Ogden, in 1755, 1756 and 1762; Joseph Lyon, in 1759; Thomas Tobin, in 1760; Robert
* Webster, p. 358.
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Ogden, in 1763; and Samuel Woodruff, in 1764, and 1765 .*
Dickinson's next publication appeared in September, 1735, anonymously. It was entitled,-
Remarks on a Letter to a Friend in the Country ; containing the sub- stance of a sermon preached at Philadelphia in the congregation of the Rev. Mr. Hemphill, in which the terms of Christian and ministerial com- munion are so stated that human impositions are exploded, a proper en- closure proposed for every religious society, and the commission justified in their conduct towards Mr. Hemphill.t
In the following year, 1736, Mr. Dickinson again became involved in a controversy about Episcopacy. An unhappy disturbance had been created in the church at Newark, by a case of discipline. Col. Josiah Ogden, (a grandson of " Old John Ogden," of this town), residing at Newark, and a mem- ber of the church, was censured for Sabbath-breaking, in laboring to save a crop of wheat, on the Lord's Day, after long-continued rains. Being a man of great influence, a party was created, absorbing the disaffected elements of the congregation. Though the censure, on appeal, was removed by the Presbytery, and the Synod endeavored, by kindly interposition, to heal the breach, the grievance proved incur- able. The dissentients gravitated towards Episcopacy, and sought, of Mr. Vaughan and others, Episcopal ministrations .;
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